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We don't typically post the weights of the complete kit as it is unconventional and misleading. I'll request we post the raw 56cm frame weight as we've done in the past. The two samples we've had here have been 908g and 912g.

euan wrote:Dave any confirmation that the ARA will be sold as a frameset only in Europe and not just as the AR15?

There are no plans to offer the AR aluminum frame in aftermarket trim. The cost of producing the framekits vs. the volume of the complete bikes would make the price difference between the complete bikes illogical. I would bet you'll be able to find a shop that is willing to strip the complete AR15 and offer just the frameset.

OK, I'll bite. I see no dummy rider and no water bottles. Without either of these, that data is essentially worthless. Even in their own promotional video, you can see the crank angle of the IA is not even the same as that used for the AR. The AR is a 3 o'clock and the IA is like between 3 and 4 o clock.

That said, I'll probably be buying an AR5 at the end of this year if it's anywhere close to the S5 simply due to stiffness and weight

ichobi wrote:@SuperDave, not sure if this has been asked, but what's the thinking behind the decision to leave to front brake unhidden like other TT/ Aero road bikes? Is it faster this way in your testing?

We did some testing with shrouded brakes like our new DA2 uses. There are some marginal gains to be had but the AR was built around the best balance of low weight, high torsional and drivetrain stiffness, low aerodynamic drag, and a high degree of vertical and cockpit compliance. Building a fork that housed the brake would push the bike weight up over 1100 grams like the Propel. We wanted to keep the AR FRD under 900g during development and keep the fork compliant for-aft.

Using "regular" Shimano brakes on the bike allows the bike to perform in 4 other key categories beyond aerodynamics as well. It freed up development time to focus on taking the ~20g of added drag from the conventional calilper and ~10g of drag from conventional front brake cable routing and saving drag with fork and downtube blend and shape modification.

The AR3 EPS does use a centerpull aero front brake mounted on the front of the bike and for those looking for aerodynamics over pure stopping power or all conditions braking performance there are calipers like the TriRig that'll give back 75% of the drag a Shimano dual pivot brake adds.

I'm running one of our IA brake calipers on the front of my AR1 as I'm typically riding 90 minute parking lot crits, not Alpine descents so giving up a few feet of braking distance doesn't concern me if I can shorten the finish line by a few feet gaining aero performance.